CalRecycle Joins Food Waste Prevention Week Efforts

Sacramento--The California Department of Resources Recycling
and Recovery is supporting Food Waste Prevention Week to raise
awareness about the environmental and economic costs of food
waste and help Californians reduce the amount of food that ends
up in the trash.

Unused food results in unnecessary expenses for everyone. On
average, a family of four spends about $1,500 more per year on
food than necessary, because of the amount they throw out. Money
spent along the food production chain, including the cost of
energy, water, fertilizer, harvesting, production, storage, and
transportation, also is wasted. In all, Californians throw away
almost 12 billion pounds of food each year. That amounts to 18
percent of all the material that goes to landfills in the state.

Unfortunately, in a state where 1 of 8 people are food
insecure, food is the largest single component of our disposal
stream.

This week, Californians are encouraged to take simple actions
to prevent food waste. For example:

Plan your
meals for the week before you go shopping and buy only the items
needed to prepare those meals. By making a shopping list with
weekly meals in mind, you can save money and prevent food waste.

Look in your
refrigerator and cupboards first to avoid buying food you
already have. Make a list each week and plan upcoming meals
around that food.

Freeze food
such as bread, sliced fruit, meat or other items that can spoil
quickly. Freezing food is one of the most effective methods for
preserving food at home.

When
preparing meals, use the edible parts of food that you normally
do not eat. For example, beet tops can be sautéed for a
delicious side dish, and vegetable scraps can be made into
stock.

Learn the
difference between “sell-by,
“use by,” “best-by,” and other expiration date labels to
prevent wholesome food from being disposed.

There are many other simple, effective strategies to help
reduce food waste at home. These changes can reduce more
than 20 pounds of food waste per person, per month—and they can
reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions and combat global
climate change. When sent to landfills, food and other organic
waste decomposes and generates methane, a super pollutant with a
heat-trapping effect at least 86
times greater than carbon dioxide.

To help further educate the public about food waste, CalRecycle,
the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the
Governor’s Office of Planning and Research are joining forces
with the Natural
Resources Defense Council and the
Ad Council
on a food waste reduction campaign known as
Savethefood.com. The
campaign offers tips on storing leftover food, understanding
“sell by” dates, wasting less food with kids, shopping
efficiently, and reviving droopy produce. The
UglyFruitAndVeg Campaign encourages people to use
imperfect-looking produce to prevent nutritious fruits and
vegetables from becoming waste.

Food waste prevention is key to achieving the state’s 75
percent recycling goal and reducing waste in landfills.
Additionally, food waste prevention is critical to achieve a 50
percent reduction in the disposal of organic waste by 2020 and a
75 percent reduction by 2025, as required in SB 1383 (Lara,
Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016).

As part of California’s comprehensive strategy to combat
climate change, CalRecycle awarded $9.4 million in January to 31
projects that will decrease the amount of food waste landfilled
in California and increase the state’s capacity to collect,
transport, store, and distribute more food to Californians in
need.